Russians thrown into panic by mistaken toxic gas warning

Russians in Siberia were thrown into momentary panic on Friday when the
emergencies ministry mistakenly issued a press release reporting 55 people
had died from inhaling toxic chlorine gas.

The scenario concocted by officials for Tyumen - an industrial region of 3.6 million people about 1,700 kilometres (1,000 miles) east of Moscow - involved a toxic emission of chlorine gas at a waterworksPhoto: ALAMY

By AFP

12:02PM BST 04 Oct 2013

Emergency services were on Friday holding scheduled drills across the vast country involving various disaster scenarios such as deadly explosions and fires.

The scenario concocted by officials for Tyumen - an industrial region of 3.6 million people about 1,700 kilometres (1,000 miles) east of Moscow - involved a toxic emission of chlorine gas at a waterworks.

But things went wrong when the press office of Tyumen's emergencies ministry issued a statement reporting an "accident that resulted in the death of three workers and 52 members of the public".

The press release added that a toxic chlorine cloud was rapidly spreading across the region's capital, also called Tyumen, and its northeastern areas.

The news was instantly picked up by Russia's state-run RIA Novosti news agency and radio stations such as nationally-syndicated Moscow Echo.